Ex-Army Corps of Engineers employee pleads guilty to taking payments

Published 2:07 pm Friday, October 13, 2006

SAVANNAH — A former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee pleaded guilty Thursday to taking almost $50,000 in bribes from a Kuwaiti real estate agent while working to get apartments for U.S. personnel stationed in Kuwait and en route to Iraq, officials said.

Gheevarghese Pappen, 62, was charged with wire fraud in a March indictment by a federal grand jury in Savannah.

Pappen had been assigned to Camp Arifjan, about 40 miles from Kuwait City. According to the indicment, he recommended approval of at least three leases after getting the real estate agent to inflate the rent and pay Pappen a share.

Pappen was arrested March 17 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as he was en route from Kuwait to his home in Richmond Hill, near Savannah.

Pappen faces up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he is sentenced. He is now free on bond.